Methotrexate experience

please bear with me.. my eyes are funky and having a hard time typing..

got the injection on friday at 2:30.. in my buttt.. only place nurse would do it.. that came after the dr sat me down and basically tried to talk me out of it. scared me.. made me take notes on what I was getting myself into ...i still went ahead...because what choice do i have. he did send me to the hospital for a chest xray, blood test, cdiff and liver panels.

I started getting tired about 30 minutes after shot..about an hour later it really hit me... I slept all last night and most of today.. some nausea.. very bad headache... muscle pain... and my diarrhea is still up at 15x a day , though probably no reaction to drug but still crohn's. my eyes are squinty.. like they are swollen.. they are bugging me. my kids said it looks like I am just really tired.. which i am .. but they feel swollen...weird.

I just want to sleep...and want the headache to go away. thankful I am not sicker to my stomach...

just wanted to share my experience... and if anyone knows anything about the eye thing... please let me know..and I am drinking lots of water..I took all of your advice...now just want to go back to bed...the fatigue sucks. but if it works... I will gladly take this over being in the bathroom and joint pain.

thanks to all of you ....

ok.. did your eyes eventually even out? I have to admit I am scared now over the eyes...

My doctor never wanted me to use this.. he has never used this drug and wasn't comfortable so he researched it and told me that he understood the mayo wanted me to use it but these are the risks and what could happen to me... it was out of his comfort zone.

I am hanging.. darn it.. vision is really off..i want to give this a chance... i will give it a chance. just will sleep alot.

thanks Ivy.

How much folic acid are you taking?
The fatigue and headache are exactly what I experienced with my first few doses. Extra folic acid got rid of that entirely.

I have had a weird sensation in my eyes a few times but never made any connection to methotrexate. Kind of a twitching behind the eyeball and chalked it up to stress. No other symptoms.

800mg or even 8mg a day of folic acid does not sound right?

junerainbow, Are you sure he didn't mean 800 mcg, not 800 mg?

Navy or ZenaWP are ones that I can think of who are currently on this med. I do know that I have heard over and over here at Healingwell that you just have to be patient with this med. You will have side effects, worse at first, until your body adjusts to it. I believe also you need to take the dose of Folic Acid that Mayo said to take with it. It is not overkill, it is needed with this med, because it depletes your Folic Acid. Patience June, I know its hard, but with this disease thats one thing you got to have. Everything is hurry up and wait. Sorry and hugs!

Ok my doctor has my dose of folic acid at 3MG (which I think is 3000mg) a day for right now that changes due to how I am feeling and how my lab results look. I personally think Mayo knows what they are doing. I can usually tell before the lab test, due to how I feel and how much hair I am losing if my folic acid is within normal range.

about the eyes do you have allergies? Because before crohns I had no allergies and with crohns I am much more sensitive to anything like that. Also please think about using those flexiblegel packs that you put in the fidge (the freezer does not work for me<too cold too hard>). It might help with the head ache and eyes.

Yeah, it took me three months to see a difference.
Sorry you are feeling so crummie.
((((((((June)))))))

Take care,
Navy

IDK, but it might be worth trying out. I do not know if this is the crohns or the MTX, but I feel like something dry's me out, like I have to take in more water, use a better quality of shampoo/conditioner (aveda damage remedy), and dove soap etc. When before I was always fighting the oil.

I did not have the eye issue. So everyone is different.

Hi, my daughter took oral MTX for 9 months when first diagnosed and did well, then she began to throw up after taking it. So they swithed to injections, which was worst. Nausea and vomiting every time! Sometimes, she would throw up alot of blood. I even had her in councelling because the doc thought it was in her head and she was working herself up and making herself feel sick. After a few months of this, they wanted to put her on Remicade. That's when I said "Bye Bye" and found a new GI. I guess it works for some, but my daughter had a horrible experience with MTX. Make sure you take 1mg of Folic Acid and don't get pregnant, as it causes miscarraiges. Good Luck. Diana